TOXTETH brewer Robert Cain is backing the city as the main sponsor of this month's Liverpool Irish Festival which starts on Thursday.

The festival runs until October 30 and celebrates the links between Liverpool and Ireland.

Highlights include theatre performances, poetry readings and concerts, beginning with legendary punk heroes The Undertones at Liverpool's Academy this Thursday.

Comedian Patrick Kielty plays the Royal Court on October 18 and folk singer Christy Moore appears at the Philharmonic Hall on October 21.

Cains' owners Sudarghara and Ajmail Dusanj said the decision to act as title sponsor was obvious as brewery founder Robert Cain was born in Cork - current Capital of Culture - in 1826. He came to Liverpool 18 years later where he established the famous Stanhope Street brewing plant.

Festival organisers said: "Their support and that of our funders has helped us to make this celebration of the traditional connections and contemporary links between Liverpool and Ireland the largest and most wide-ranging to date."

Cains hit national headlines last weekend when it was reported it had been snubbed in its attempt to join the independent Family Brewers of Britain Association, a story covered by the ECHO 21 months ago.

We revealed in January 2004 that the Dusanj brothers had applied 18 months beforehand to join the "royal family" of Britain's brewers, but were rejected on the grounds that members must have owned their business for more than 10 years.